Kenya’s former prime minister dies in India at 80

Tributes have been paid to former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who has died on the age of 80.

President William Ruto stated the veteran politician, who died on Wednesday whereas receiving medical remedy at a hospital in India, was a “beacon of braveness” and “father of our democracy”.

His physique is because of be flown again dwelling in a single day for a funeral service and burial to be held over the approaching days.

Odinga spent a few years as an opposition chief, dropping 5 presidential campaigns, most lately three years in the past.

In latest weeks, there was hypothesis about his well being, though relations and political allies had dismissed studies suggesting he was critically ailing.

He collapsed throughout a morning stroll and was taken to Devamatha Hospital, about 50km (30 miles) east of the port metropolis of Kochi.

The hospital stated he had suffered a cardiac arrest, didn’t reply to resuscitation measures and was “declared lifeless at 09:52” native time (04:22 GMT).

“Raila Amolo Odinga is really a once-in-a-generation chief. A person whose beliefs transcended politics, and whose legacy will form the future of Kenya for generations to return,” Ruto stated in a dwell deal with to the nation.

A seven-day interval of mourning has additionally been declared. Odinga will probably be even be accorded a state funeral with full army honours, Ruto stated.

Different Kenyan politicians and world leaders have been sending their condolences, together with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described Odinga as a “towering statesman and a cherished pal of India”.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa stated he was a “chief who positioned the pursuits of his nation and continent first” whereas Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema described Odinga as “a towering advocate for democracy”, whose legacy would endure. Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu stated he “embodied the spirit of Pan-Africanism”.

On Wednesday, Kenya’s parliament noticed a minute’s silence in his honour and scheduled a session on Thursday for lawmakers to pay tribute.

The Kenyan president had earlier visited Odinga’s household dwelling within the capital, Nairobi, and expressed his condolences to his widow Ida Odinga and different relations.

It’s understood {that a} delegation, led by Kenya’s Overseas Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Odinga’s widow, is on its solution to India to supervise the preparations to repatriate his physique.

Native officers in Kochi stated his physique was because of be flown to Mumbai – from the place it might be taken to Kenya, and was anticipated on Thursday morning.

The state funeral will probably be held on the Nyayo Nationwide Stadium in Nairobi on Friday and the next day his physique will probably be transported to Kisumu, a metropolis in western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria – his political stronghold.

Members of the general public will get an opportunity to view the physique earlier than he’s buried on Sunday at his farm in Bondo, about 60km west of Kisumu.

In accordance with the household, it was Odinga’s want to be laid to relaxation throughout the shortest time potential, ideally inside 72 hours.

Odinga’s supporters have been pouring on to the streets to mourn, particularly in western Kenya and components of Nairobi.

The disputed election of 2007, wherein Odinga claimed he was cheated of victory by Mwai Kibaki, led to the most important disaster in Kenya’s historical past.

Violence erupted across the nation, leading to 1,200 deaths and about 600,000 individuals have been compelled to flee their properties.

To resolve the disaster, a power-sharing settlement was brokered by former UN Secretary-Common Kofi Annan, resulting in the formation of a unity authorities wherein Odinga grew to become prime minister.

His frequent claims of fraud have been vindicated by Kenya’s highest court docket after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory and ordered contemporary polls. Nonetheless, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.

Odinga later made up with Kenyatta, gorgeous the nation when the 2 shook fingers in 2018 – ending months of stress.

He has usually reconciled with the incumbent president after contentious elections.

After his most up-to-date defeat in 2022, he later joined President Ruto in a so-called broad-based authorities, which introduced a number of of his allies into key positions.

He defended the transfer as obligatory for nationwide unity, coming within the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests final yr that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters have been killed in confrontations with safety officers.

The Ruto administration backed Odinga’s bid to turn into chairperson of the African Union Fee, in elections held earlier this yr. Regardless of robust regional assist, he misplaced to Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Odinga impressed a passionate and constant following all through his political profession. His supporters known as him “Baba” (Father), “Agwambo” (Act of God), and “Tinga” (Tractor) – drawn from his social gathering’s image throughout the 1997 elections.

He was broadly thought to be a grasp strategist and mass mobiliser, usually drawing enormous crowds to his political rallies, and he had a deep capacity to attach with bizarre individuals.

He will probably be remembered for his unwavering battle for democratic freedoms and human rights.

He was a former political prisoner, and holds the document for being Kenya’s longest-serving detainee. His battle towards one-party dictatorship noticed him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) throughout the rule of Daniel arap Moi.

He was initially imprisoned for attempting to stage a coup in 1982, which propelled him on to the nationwide stage.

For many of his political life, Odinga has been seen as image of resistance and political reform and his loss of life leaves a vacuum about who can fill his footwear and stick with it his legacy.

He’s the son of Jaramogi Odinga, Kenya’s first vice-president, who walked out of presidency after falling out with then-leader Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru Kenyatta’s father.

Extra reporting by the BBC’s Roncliffe Odit and Akisa Wandera in Nairobi